KILLER SOUL MATE

Romance and intrigue are back in this clever whodunit series installment.

As an ambitious 30-something lawyer, Jane Larson is still struggling to keep her practice afloat; she’s being threatened with eviction from her landlord, which means she could lose her late mother’s former law office forever. As she does her best to hold on to the practice, she’s faced with a new challenge when a client asks for her help in untangling a complex matrimonial legal matter. Desperate for money, Jane continues to take on odd clients until she gets entangled in multiple murder cases. What’s even more surprising is that a man named Gary, who’s at least a decade younger than her, keeps popping up in her life—and the closer they become, the harder it becomes for her to resist his amorous advances. The sequel to Weave a Murderous Web (2016) is set on New York City’s Upper East Side, and the metropolitan backdrop melds nicely with the dialogue’s “exquisite sarcasm,” as narrator Jane puts it. Married authors Rothman-Hicks and Hicks supply each character with a unique personality and clear motivations, which will help to keep readers guessing who committed the central crimes. In many ways, the book reads like a classic hard-boiled detective story, but the authors give it a delightfully modern twist. It’s an often dark and grisly tale of human wickedness, to be sure, but also one with welcome dashes of humor. The story takes several intriguing dives into Jane’s past that will help readers understand her more deeply as she frequently describes her dramatic but relatable family struggles.

A satisfying contemporary spin on a classic mystery genre.